OSHA Inspection: GERDAU

Issued

Mar 18, 2015

Abate by

May 22, 2015

Penalty

Initial $3,400 · Current $0 Reduced

Hazardous substances 8110

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.95(b)(1): When employees were subjected to sound exceeding those listed in Table G-16, feasible administrative or engineering controls were not utilized:   An employee working at the number 201 shot blaster, was exposed to continuous noise at 156.4% of the permissible daily noise exposure (8-hour time-weighted average sound level of 90 dBA) or an equivalent sound level of approximately 93.22 dBA during the 420 minute sampling period on 2/11/2015; exposure calculations include a zero increment for the 40 minutes not sampled.   Abatement methods usually applicable in these circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following:   1. Rotation of employees who work in this area to a job on the site that has minimal noise exposure for a portion of their work shift.                                           2. Installation of a sound absorbing booth located near the machine so that the employee can remain in the area monitoring the operation of the machine and observe the loading and unloading process while protected from high noise levels.      Abatement steps:      STEP 1:  Submit to the Area Director a written detailed plan of abatement outlining a schedule for the implementation of engineering and/or administrative measures to control employee exposure to noise as referenced in this citation.  This plan shall include, at a minimum, target dates for the following actions which must be consistent with the dates required by this citation.      1)  Evaluation of engineering control options.      2)  Selection of optimum control method and completion of design.      3)  Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures.      4)  Testing and acceptance or modification/redesign of controls.      All proposed control measures shall be evaluated for each particular use by a competent Industrial Hygienist or other technically qualified person.     STEP 2:  Abatement should have been completed by the implementation of feasible engineering and/or administrative controls upon verification of their effectiveness in achieving compliance.  This verification should include noise monitoring results showing levels of noise below the permissible exposure limit.